I compared the Insta360 X6 and X5 — these are the 5 upgrades that really make a difference for 360 footage | Daily Reports Online
Like the X5 was before it, the X6 is the best all-round 360 camera you can buy, offering excellent image quality day and night.
Pros
- Excellent image quality in bright daylight and low light alike
- 10-bit color across all shooting modes
- Strong battery life with no overheating issues
Cons
- The priciest small 360 camera on the market by some margin
- Mobile app was unstable and crash-prone throughout testing
The Insta360 X5 has sat at the top of TechRadar’s best 360 camera guide since its arrival in the spring of 2025, fending off strong challenges from the DJI Osmo 360 and the GoPro Max 2 along the way. Despite the competition, it’s been the 360 camera to beat for well over a year.
Now in steps another model, this time from within Insta360 itself; the X6, which arrives as the company’s tenth-anniversary flagship. On paper the X5’s successor is a significant step up across almost every major spec: bigger sensors, faster frame rates, tougher waterproofing, longer battery life, and a set of pro-video tools the X5 doesn’t have.
I’ve spent time testing both 360 cameras extensively — check out my Insta360 X6 review — and while the X6 isn’t a wholesale reinvention of the formula, the upgrades it does bring are real and, in several cases, substantial. Here are the five biggest differences you need to know about if you’re deciding between them, followed by my early verdict on which one deserves your money.
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1. Insta360 X6 vs Insta360 X5: Sensors and image quality
- New 1/1.1-inch sensors on the X6, up from 1/1.28-inch on the X5
- X6 shoots 360 video at up to 8K/50fps, versus the X5’s 8K/30fps ceiling
- 120MP 360 photos on the X6, versus 72MP on the X5
The headline hardware change between these two cameras is sensor size. The X5 introduced dual 1/1.28-inch sensors that were a big step up from the X4’s, and the X6 goes further still with a new pair of 1/1.1-inch sensors. Insta360 says that’s 33% more sensor area, and around four times the light intake per frame.
In practice, I’d say the difference this makes in good daylight conditions is real but subtle, and not as dramatic a jump as the X4-to-X5 upgrade was. Where the X6 really pulls ahead is in low light. The X5’s PureVideo mode was already the best low-light performer in its category, but the X6 pushes noise reduction and detail retention further still, helped by 10-bit color depth now being supported across every shooting mode — including PureVideo, which wasn’t the case on the X5.
The maximum frame rate and resolution have both gone up too. The X6 shoots 360 video at up to 8K/50fps, compared with the X5’s 8K/30fps cap, giving smoother results at the top resolution. And 360 photo resolution has increased from 72MP on the X5 to 120MP on the X6.
None of this makes the X5’s image quality suddenly look poor; it remains excellent for its generation. But if outright image quality, in any light, is your priority, the X6 is a genuine step forward rather than an incremental one.
- Sensors and image quality winner: Insta360 X6
2. Insta360 X6 vs Insta360 X5: Waterproofing and durability
- X6 waterproof to 20m as standard versus the X5’s 15m
- Both reach 60m with their respective official dive cases
- X6’s lenses 5x more scratch-resistant and cheaper to replace
Both cameras were already rugged by 360 camera standards, but the X6 pushes things further – and deeper. It’s IP68-rated and waterproof to 20m without any additional housing, compared with the X5’s 15m — a significant improvement if you regularly shoot unhoused underwater footage rather than reaching for a case every time. Both cameras reach 60m with their respective official dive cases, so we can call it even for serious diving use.
Lens durability has improved too. Insta360 says the X6’s lenses are five times more scratch-resistant than the X5’s, and cheaper to replace on top of that (from $26.99 US / £20.99 UK / AU$35.99 opposed to from $29.99 US / £29.99 UK / AU$54.99). I didn’t manage to put either camera’s lenses to a real scratch test during my reviews, but the X5’s tool-based replacement system was already reliable and affordable, so this looks like a refinement of something that wasn’t broken rather than a fix for something that was.
Body design plays into durability too, if less directly. The X6 is squatter and lower-profile than the X5’s familiar candy-bar shape (DJI and GoPro rivals are squatter-still), which may make it a more comfortable, less obtrusive fit for helmet mounts or other body-worn setups, and slightly less exposed to knocks in the process.
For anyone whose priority is unhoused underwater shooting, or who’s simply hard on their gear, the X6’s improvements here feel quite meaningful.
- Waterproofing and durability winner: Insta360 X6
3. Insta360 X6 vs Insta360 X5: Battery life and storage
- X6 rated for 140 minutes at 8K/30fps, X5 at 93 minutes
- X6 showed no overheating in testing while the X5 shut down after 47 minutes
- X6 boasts 47GB of built-in storage, X5 has none
Battery capacity has slightly grown from 2,400mAh on the X5 to 2,600mAh on the X6, but the difference in real-world runtime is substantial. At identical recording settings of 8K/30fps, Insta360 rates the X5 for 93 minutes and the X6 for 140 minutes. I tested the X6 myself and recorded 136 minutes before the battery ran out, closely matching Insta360’s claim and representing around a 50% improvement over the X5’s figure.
Heat management tells an equally clear story. When I tested the X5, it shut down due to overheating after 47 minutes of continuous 8K/30fps recording at room temperature. The X6, by contrast, showed no overheating at all during my testing. Now, I won’t say this’ll always be the case, as real-world conditions change, but it does seem worth bearing in mind if you plan on recording for extended periods without a break.
Charging speed is a rare category where the X5 retains the edge: it fast-charges from empty to 80% in 20 minutes, compared with 24 minutes for the X6. It’s a minor trade-off against everything else the X6 gains here, but worth knowing if quick top-ups between shoots matter to you.
Overall, the X6 offers a leap in both runtime and heat resilience, with only a slightly slower charge time to show for it.
On the storage front, both cameras carry a microSD card slot, but the X6 also comes with 60GB of built-in storage, 47GB of which is usable for videos and photos. It’s a nice little bonus bit of space.
- Battery life and storage winner: Insta360 X6
4. Insta360 X6 vs Insta360 X5: Pro-friendly video features
- X6 supports 10-bit color across every shooting mode, including low light
- X6 is the first 360 camera with native in-camera Dolby Vision
- X6 offers native DaVinci Resolve compatibility (once Resolve 22 arrives)
Beyond the headline sensor and battery upgrades, the X6 introduces a step change for anyone editing footage seriously rather than just sharing clips straight from the app. The X5 supports the flat I-Log color profile for grading, but 10-bit color depth is limited to its standard shooting modes — it isn’t available in the PureVideo low light mode. The X6 removes that restriction entirely: 10-bit color now carries across every shooting mode, low light included, giving colorists more to work with regardless of the conditions the footage was shot in.
The X6 is also the first 360 camera with native in-camera Dolby Vision, layering dynamic metadata onto footage frame by frame for wider highlight and shadow detail straight out of the camera. The X5 has nothing equivalent.
Another noteworthy addition for professional workflows is native DaVinci Resolve compatibility, a first for a 360 camera and something the X5 simply can’t do (it does have a plugin for Adobe Premiere Pro, and you can expect the same for the X6). This requires Resolve 22, which wasn’t available at the time of my testing, so I haven’t been able to verify it firsthand yet — but if it works as promised, it should speed up the workflow of any Resolve user who currently has to bounce footage through Insta360 Studio before it’s usable.
None of this will matter much if you mostly rely on the Insta360 app’s auto-editing tools or straight-from-the-camera videos. But for creators who already work in Resolve, or who want to push their footage hard in post, the X6 offers tools the X5 simply doesn’t have.
- Pro-friendly video features winner: Insta360 X6
5. Insta360 X6 vs Insta360 X5: Design and display
- X6 is squatter and lower-profile than the X5’s candy-bar shape
- X6’s 2.32-inch OLED screen is smaller in diagonal size than the X5’s 2.5-inch display
- X6 supports an always-on display; the X5 doesn’t
Insta360 has departed from its long-running candy-bar design with the X6, and the change is more than cosmetic. The squatter, lower-profile shape gives up a little of the X5’s comfortable in-hand feel, but it’s arguably better suited to being worn or mounted — on a helmet, say, or in any setup where the X5’s longer body would stick out and catch on things more easily. Both weigh around 200g, though.
The screen tells a similar story of trade-offs rather than a straightforward upgrade. On paper, the X6’s 2.32-inch OLED display is slightly smaller than the X5’s 2.5-inch screen. But the X6’s panel is squarer in shape, where the X5’s is more elongated, and in practice I found the X6’s screen more comfortable to view and to navigate via touch — menus and framing previews both feel like they have more room to breathe, despite the smaller diagonal measurement. The X6 also adds always-on support, letting you check status or framing without waking the display, which the X5 can’t do.
The X6’s screen additionally introduces a pressure-sensitive, haptic touch interface for certain functions, though in my testing this felt more like a novelty than a genuine improvement over the X5’s straightforward touch controls.
Neither camera is dramatically better designed than the other. It’s more a case of Insta360 optimizing for a different set of priorities with the X6, some of which will suit certain shooters better than others.
- Design and display winner: Insta360 X6
Insta360 X6 vs Insta360 X5: Early verdict
Five rounds, five wins for the X6 — though one of those, design and display, was close enough that “win” undersells how competitive the X5 remains.
The upgrades that matter most are the sensors, battery life and pro-video features. Better image quality in any light, and close to 50% more real-world runtime (with none of the overheating I experienced testing the X5), are big gains. What I can’t yet fully compare are the software experiences, since I ran into lots of instability in the Insta360 app during X6 testing, and I want to see how it improves once the retail version arrives before judging it properly.
Price is another factor worth considering. The X6’s Standard bundle costs $669.99 / £619 / AU$1,049.99, which is quite a step up from the X5’s $549.99 / £519.99 / AU$929.99 launch price. And I suspect the X5 is about to get cheaper due to no longer being the company’s flagship camera, so it could be a great choice for anyone looking for good all-round performance at a bargain price.
If you already own an X5, the upgrades the X6 brings are real but not so dramatic that you should trade it in right away. If you’re buying a 360 camera for the first time, though, things are simpler: the X6 is the better camera, and worth the extra outlay if your budget stretches to it.
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